Flotilla, Crosetto: we will continue to work so that nothing bad happens to anyone. "In Israeli waters we do not guarantee security".

The attack on the night of 23-24 September against the Global Sumud Flotilla "closely concerns our country" because "the safety of our compatriots in international waters". Thus Defence Minister Guido Crosetto in an urgent briefing to the Chamber of Deputies in relation to the safety of the maritime caravan heading towards Gaza.

"Among those sailing there are also Italian citizens, including MPs and MEPs. It is therefore clear that what happened closely concerns our country, because it concerns the safety of our compatriots in international waters. The Italian government has expressed and continues to express its strongest condemnation of what happened. Actions of this kind, conducted against civilian units in the open sea, are totally unacceptable'. The intervention of the Navy's Multirole Frigate Fasan, which was already sailing north of Crete as part of Operation Mediterranean Safe, was authorised. "The Frigate Fasan," the minister went on to explain, "reached the area where the Global Flottilla was sailing for possible rescue, assistance, and protection activities for people who might be in danger. I immediately informed the Israeli military attaché in Italy, our ambassador and the military attaché in Tel Aviv, and the Farnesina crisis unit of this decision'. A second ship of the Italian Navy, the frigate missile launcher Alpino, will be sent in possible rescue and protection of the Flotilla.

"We will continue to work so that no accident happens to the Flotilla and I ask for your help on this, regardless of political oppositions. The climate is worrying and I say that we are not able outside international waters to guarantee the safety of the boats. On this I want to be clear and I therefore recommend accepting the solution of bringing aid to Cyprus through the Church'. Thus the Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto, in his briefing to the House.

As for the events in Poland and Estonia they "represent a kind of test, a provocation that requires a firm rational and coordinated response" according to the Defence Minister. "In light of the recent violations of NATO airspace by Russian Federation assets, aircraft and drones are probably a wake-up call that we cannot ignore. The encroachment on Polish territory on 3 September was considered the most serious since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, although it caused very little damage. What happened in Estonia also deserves attention'..